Arsenal vs Olympiacos Preview

A very quick review of our last game vs Bolton:

We looked nervy at the start, and the first half was as dull as it could be but we put on a superb second half and came out with three points, three goals and a clean sheet, and of course more injuries! In the second half, we really looked like the free flowing Arsenal of old and it was heartening to see such a performance after all the tough times we've endured. 

Robin van Persie continued his goalscoring streak and Alex Songinho put the icing on the delicious cake with his sumptuous finish. Walcott, and as we learnt later on, Koscielny and Gervinho picked up knocks during the game and thus miss out on tonight's match. Hopefully they'll all be back for the first North London derby at the weekend.

Match Preview:

Tonight we face the Greek giants in Olympiacos. They are largely an unknown quantity but we just cannot afford any complacency tonight. We've had a torrid start to the season and we should look forward to extending our recent good results against Shrewsbury and Bolton. there is also the added pressure of picking up all possible points from our home games and we really need to get the job done tonight, hopefully without any further injuries, if we want to qualify as leaders of the group and avoid big teams(read Barcelona).

The team news is that Robin van Persie is rested from the starting line up and has made the bench. I just hope Chamakh is able to fire tonight and put on a decent performance. Arshavin makes his return and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain gets his first taste of Champions League football tonight. It is a big night for him and I hope he does well. Also Rosicky is back and with the dearth of centre backs - Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou, Miquel and Squillaci are all out - in the side currently, Alex Song steps in at the back to partner Per Mertesacker.

Here's to a good three points and no injuries!

Team Line ups:

Arsenal(4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny, Andre Santos, Alex Song, Per Mertesacker, Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Frimpong, Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Marouane Chamakh.

Substitutes: Lukasz Fabianski, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey, Park Ju Young, Robin van Persie.

Manager: Arsene Wenger

Olympiacos(4-2-3-1): Franco Costanzo, Jose Holebas, Ivan Marcano, Olof Mellberg, Vasileios torosidis, Pablo Orbaiz, Ljubomir Fejsa, Ariel Ibagaza, Kevin Mirallas, David Fuster, Rafik Djebbour.

Substitutes: Balazs Megyeri, Avraam Papadopoulos, Francois Modesto, Jean Makoun, Giannis Potouridis, Djamel Abdoun, Marko Pantelic.

Manager: Ernesto Valverde